“I know it’s late, but I’m sure them fans just seen one hell of a race,” Pearson Jr. said in Victory Lane at approximately 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning. “Don (O’Neal) and Jonathan (Davenport) were battling it out up there and they got bottled up in turn two. I just got a run and went in there and slid them. Me and Jonathan traded positions there a couple times. But we drove each other clean. I’m proud to be able to get a win for this whole Black Diamond race team. This is a big deal for us.”

After Mother Nature wiped out Thursday night’s opener, Earl Pearson Jr. was one of 78 Super Late Models signed in at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) on Friday afternoon, as the 24th annual Dirt Late Model Dream came to life.

Earl started the night by laying down the seventh-fastest time in qualifying. He went on to record a fourth-place finish in his 10-lap heat race. Earning the 16th-starting position for the $5,000-to-win preliminary feature, Earl passed six cars in the 25-lapper to reel in a 10th-place finish.

Later that evening with another round of preliminary features on the docket, Earl registered the third-fastest time in qualifying before landing a runner-up finish in his heat race behind Jon Henry.

Rolling off seventh on the grid for the main event, Pearson Jr. worked his way into a podium spot by the halfway mark of the 25 lapper and set his eyes on race-leader Jonathan Davenport in the final 15 circuits. Sliding past Davenport on lap-17, Earl Pearson Jr. paced the field in the final laps to pick up his third win of the season and a $10,000 payday. Davenport, Dale McDowell, Don O’Neal, and Tim McCreadie completed the Top-5 finishers in the 25-lap affair.

On Saturday evening the final night of the 24th annual Dirt Late Model Dream was held, and Earl locked his spot into the $100,000-to-win finale with a runner-up finish in his heat race behind Josh Richards.

Rolling off the grid seventh, Pearson Jr. made several trips to the pit area throughout the finale to tweak his setup before ultimately registering a 16th-place finish in the 100-lapper.

“We didn’t have the run that we would’ve liked in the finale, but top to bottom it was still a good weekend for our team. Hopefully when we come back for the World 100 in September we can take what we’ve learned and do even better,” Pearson Jr. concluded.

This weekend – June 15-16 – Earl will return to action with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) with a trip to Johnny Stokes’ Magnolia Motor Speedway (Columbus, Mississippi). The annual Clash at the Mag posts a $20,000 winner’s check.